Sorry, I'm a bit confused, should we be supplementing with N Acetyl L Cysteine or L Carnitine?

Thanks for any re's!

The OP had success using L Carnitine, however one could presumably use acetyl with the same effects but the dosage is unclear. My philosophy was why mess with a good thing? I went the L Carnitine route. It will be 3 months for me next week and I've had moderate results. Mind you I took a 3 week hiatus from juicing.

Hi all, just me reporting back in. I have been doing the juicing/no sugar/more water portion of this regimen for about 8 months now. While it is indeed really healthy I do not think it has done much for my acne. About 2 months ago I took the plunge and stopped using BP at all on my forehead as a test to see what would happen. Nothing has touched my forehead except for water since then. Everything seemed fine up until about 2 weeks ago, when I began to get some cysts there. It has only gotten worse and I am now getting 1-3 new ones per day. I am at my wits end, I was really hoping that this regimen would work for me. Is it possible that this is some sort of delayed purging after coming off the BP? :*-(

Additionally, tonight I gave in and picked - I couldn't stop myself and my skin looks way worse now. Awesome.

Edited by darkdivine, 21 March 2013 - 10:23 PM.

"Raise your head up high
So the heavens hear you cry
Light the brightest fire
From the highest mountain
So the whole world knows
That your spirit can't be broken"

Dear Wingedserpent, I came across your advice about the Acetyl-l-Carnitine and B5 a few months back and being desperate I decided to try it. I have to say almost immediately I noticed dryer skin and practically no new outbreaks except perhaps a few small white head pop ups that were laughable. Right now I'm taking 500 mg alcar along with 500 mg B5. After the first couple weeks of great skin I decided to experiment and see what I could get away with eating such as cake and ice cream and every other problem food for me. The results were remarkable. No new blemishes. I just wanted to relay my experience with your idea. I feel I owed you that. Thank you for helping a guy out. I really appreciate it!

I have removed L-Carnitine from my regime, and advise you to do the same.

This is following a recent report which linked carnitine in red meat (and carnitine supplements) with increased risk of heart disease. There have, however, been contradictory studies which indicates a benefit to the heart. For a summary of the current position read this.

On balance, I consider that the current available evidence has moved carntiine from 'probably safe' to 'possibly unsafe.' This shift is always possible with any drug, as the body of scientific knowledge increases over time.

I will shortly be removing all references to carnitine in the main post.

I'll give your regime a try in two months, actually I, m trying zinc and other minerals, but I remember your post so detailed and I am thinking of adding b5, but I am a little scary about taking 500 mg of B5.

Didn't you have adverse side effects as hair lost? And I have read that when you take b5 you deplete l-cysteine ( needed for avoiding hair lost? with a ratio 2 (B5) and you should take l-cysteine (in this case 250 mg). What do you suggest?

And finally, how long have you been taking b5? Are you acne- free 99% or 100%?

Hey there! Nice to see you back and updating your information again! No more L-Carnitine, hu? Good job keeping up with the latest research. I hope your health is well.

I did the juicing everyday for almost six months and it had really helped me out, so thank you so much for all your information.

What's funny was that when I was juicing, the psoriasis on my arms and hand suddenly came back and was getting worse, flushing and itching and peeling to levels I had never seen before! I discovered that tomatoes (and possible bell peppers) were the culprit, so I stopped juicing them and now my rashes are starting to heal again. Juicing may be a way for people to select vegetables at random every week/month or so and see if you're intolerant to them or not. It worked for me! I would have been stuck figuring out why my arms flared up every now and then for the rest of my life if I didn't just juice (or eat them raw) like I was doing.

I stopped doing it everyday though. Since I'm not always home every week, I can't carry the juicer with me. I'll still drink it from time to time, but now as much. Just the way my life is. Can't cary the thing everywhere!

Hi all, just me reporting back in. I have been doing the juicing/no sugar/more water portion of this regimen for about 8 months now. While it is indeed really healthy I do not think it has done much for my acne. About 2 months ago I took the plunge and stopped using BP at all on my forehead as a test to see what would happen. Nothing has touched my forehead except for water since then. Everything seemed fine up until about 2 weeks ago, when I began to get some cysts there. It has only gotten worse and I am now getting 1-3 new ones per day. I am at my wits end, I was really hoping that this regimen would work for me. Is it possible that this is some sort of delayed purging after coming off the BP? :*-(

Additionally, tonight I gave in and picked - I couldn't stop myself and my skin looks way worse now. Awesome.

Depending on how much you know, it will take you 1 to 3 months to fully understand everything. Read though all the posts on each board too since she updates the information periodically. I stopped the juicing after 6 months, but it worked considerably well for me. It didn't get rid of all my acne, but alas allowed me to realize that nutrition DOES play a role.

Diet and Exercise and Lifestyle is the only sure way of not having acne, but you and I and everyone else here on this website are acne prone. We will always be acne prone. Nothing will change that. Accepting this and moving on towards a better lifestyle overall will surely benefit you and your acne in more ways than dermatologists can possibly imagine. Good luck!!

Yes, when you quit BP your acne will get worse. Why? because the BP killed the bad and good bacteria at the same time, the good stuff that keeps your skin functioning normally. I've been on BP regimens before, most of them only 50 percent, but Dan's regimen on acne.org, and the way he did it, worked 100 percent for me. When I quit, the mutated acne underneath from the BP came up. You can look in my gallery anytime for proof, my pictures are always public.

Also, cysts may be more from a food allergy than just normal pimples. Have you ever tried omitting dairy from your diet? I wrote a post about that here, maybe it will help you: http://www.acne.org/...t-is/?p=3338544 .

Hi all, just me reporting back in. I have been doing the juicing/no sugar/more water portion of this regimen for about 8 months now. While it is indeed really healthy I do not think it has done much for my acne. About 2 months ago I took the plunge and stopped using BP at all on my forehead as a test to see what would happen. Nothing has touched my forehead except for water since then. Everything seemed fine up until about 2 weeks ago, when I began to get some cysts there. It has only gotten worse and I am now getting 1-3 new ones per day. I am at my wits end, I was really hoping that this regimen would work for me. Is it possible that this is some sort of delayed purging after coming off the BP? :*-(

Additionally, tonight I gave in and picked - I couldn't stop myself and my skin looks way worse now. Awesome.

Depending on how much you know, it will take you 1 to 3 months to fully understand everything. Read though all the posts on each board too since she updates the information periodically. I stopped the juicing after 6 months, but it worked considerably well for me. It didn't get rid of all my acne, but alas allowed me to realize that nutrition DOES play a role.

Diet and Exercise and Lifestyle is the only sure way of not having acne, but you and I and everyone else here on this website are acne prone. We will always be acne prone. Nothing will change that. Accepting this and moving on towards a better lifestyle overall will surely benefit you and your acne in more ways than dermatologists can possibly imagine. Good luck!!

Yes, when you quit BP your acne will get worse. Why? because the BP killed the bad and good bacteria at the same time, the good stuff that keeps your skin functioning normally. I've been on BP regimens before, most of them only 50 percent, but Dan's regimen on acne.org, and the way he did it, worked 100 percent for me. When I quit, the mutated acne underneath from the BP came up. You can look in my gallery anytime for proof, my pictures are always public.

Also, cysts may be more from a food allergy than just normal pimples. Have you ever tried omitting dairy from your diet? I wrote a post about that here, maybe it will help you: http://www.acne.org/...t-is/?p=3338544 .

TreatAcne, thanks for the input - your positive attitude is inspiring . My acne is still not good on my forehead at all and I stopped the BP about 3.5 months ago and the forehead is still pretty oily at the end of the day. I think my popping/picking is probably causing it to stick around. It is very not hard not to but I will keep trying. I am going to try going a couple of weeks without picking to see what happens. I eat pretty healthy and avoid common acne triggers like gluten (when possible), dairy and sugar. I haven't had dairy in several years other than small amounts of cheese very occasionally. I'm not sure diet has much to do with my acne. I've been tested for food allergies several times and nothing came up.

"Raise your head up high
So the heavens hear you cry
Light the brightest fire
From the highest mountain
So the whole world knows
That your spirit can't be broken"

Im back. I went on this 'regimen" last year for about 3 months. Sorry to say, didnt clear my acne but didnt do me any harm. I actually like juicing and I continue to do it today a few times per week. I use mostly carrots celery beets parsley cucumber and sometimes dandelion greens.

I discovered my acne was caused by a hormonal imbalance and birth control pills cleared it .

Still, I think for people who dont necessarily have an underlying cause like I did, this may work or at least improve your general health.

TreatAcne, thanks for the input - your positive attitude is inspiring . My acne is still not good on my forehead at all and I stopped the BP about 3.5 months ago and the forehead is still pretty oily at the end of the day. I think my popping/picking is probably causing it to stick around. It is very not hard not to but I will keep trying. I am going to try going a couple of weeks without picking to see what happens. I eat pretty healthy and avoid common acne triggers like gluten (when possible), dairy and sugar. I haven't had dairy in several years other than small amounts of cheese very occasionally. I'm not sure diet has much to do with my acne. I've been tested for food allergies several times and nothing came up.

No prob! And sorry, I didn't know you had also omitted other foods.

My forehead was also a mess when I quit BP. It lasted over 6 months, even when I started the juicing regimen here. When you pick (like I do, please don't worry yourself too much), you spread the bacteria around, creating other acne cysts without them actually being created from the start, you know what I mean? But sadly this happens sometimes whether or not we touch our face. Sometimes the white crud is so close to the surface of our skin that it comes out eventually. It sucks to live that way. In between the pictures in my gallery, my acne still flared and popped.

Try not to forget that avoiding things aren't enough. You're eating healthier avoiding the bad things, but not healthy if your not eating the right things at the same time. Food allergy tests may not always be accurate. Maybe an elimination diet and/or candida cleanse is your best bet.

But please do what you feel is best for you. You know yourself better than anyone else and you should still congratulate yourself for juicing vegetables in the first place .

It may be worth your while reading this article about the over-simplified associations about Carnitine being related to heart disease:

http://chriskresser....922c41b39018c99 This guy is great. A paleo-oriented MD who does his research. That flurry of news regarding meat and heart disease a month or so ago seems like another hyped up media translation of scientific information where the details have gone AWOL.

Have you stopped taking L-Carnetine since your last post? Ay noticeable changes? I love the energy l-Carnitine gives me. And my skin remains 85% better along with 1000mg B5 and 15,000 iu Vit A. I don't juice, and I slip off the old sugar wagon from time to time. Too much booze, chocolate and ice cream result in breakouts but much much less than previously. And if I stop this supplement combo, my skin clearly worsens. As the previous poster said, "I luff you" too

Hello, I would like to join in this thread and regimen. I have already been off refined sugar and gluten for months now. I found that it improved my acne in that if I didn't put anything on my face (moisturizer) I wouldn't get acne. Of course this is not acceptable especially in the dead of winter.

Four weeks ago, I went grain-free, nightshade-free, legume-free, dairy-free and nut-free. It is basically an auto-immune paleo approach with moderate carbs (only tubers like sweet potatoes and taro. I aim for about 120g a day from starches). I can sense small improvements but I had hoped to be further along by this point. Anyway, now that I have adjusted to that diet, I want to add the juicing. I used to drink green smoothies daily but I found it gave me heartburn which I think is related to the amount of fiber. So I have bought a juicer instead and today I had about four ounces. I plan to do this for a week and then increase the amount.

I also take 25mg of chelated zinc a teaspoon of cod liver oil daily. In about a month's time, I plan to try adding the B5.

Thank you very much for this thread and especially for the sample timeline for improvement.

-L-

I am trying not to use anything medicated while I pursue the dietary/holistic approach. Right now I cleanse twice daily with Neutrogena sensitive foaming wash and I moisturize with Glytone balancing lotion.

I tried all the 'xxxx free' diets as well, but when it all came down to it my solution from the OP was 500mg of TIME RELEASE, and I stress time release, B5 with 500mg of l-carnitine once in the morning.

Non time-release B5 didn't work for me.

Also, you need to find the smallest dosage that works as I did 2000-3000mg of B5 a day at one point and while my face was perfect my hair started falling out and I started getting stomach pains and odd health issues.

Now, i can eat whatever I want... sugary or otherwise with no acne issues. The juicing for breakfast is a must though. Helps you keep your weight under control and stay healthy. I juice every morning and have been since last September and it has great benefits.

I'm sure this has been brought up somewhere in this long thread, but since I don't have time to read all of it at the moment (eventually I will), I guess I'll just ask. Does anyone have any tips for juicing on a budget? I'm a college student right now so I don't have a ton of money. I went in the grocery store the other day to look at the prices of things I might be interested in juicing and everything was so expensive! One red pepper was over a dollar!

I too have started juicing recently and the results are fantastic. I feel way more energetic and my skin looks so much brighter and i feel generally really healthy. I have also cut out sugar from my diet (best i can!) and dairy products too.

I wanted to share with you all though a pre breakout routine that has really really helped me.

I have always suffered with spots but recently more so unsightly cystic acne. After doing lots of research into acne i found a correlation in treatment and after giving it a go, found out that it also works for me

When you see a spot forming, whether it be cystic or a normal zit, clean the face with a cleanser. Then apply Apple Cider Vinegar all over the face as a toner (mix 1 part ACV with 2 parts water) ACV is a ph balancer for the skin. Then apply neat tea tree oil to the spot, this will bring down the swelling dramatically and dry it out. Then apply sudocrem, or another nappy rash cream with a high content of zinc oxide in it (sudocrem has the highest content ive found - 15%). I do this routine at night and leave the sudocrem on my face overnight, by morning my spots have considerably cleared up. This along with cutting out sugar and dairy and introducing juicing has really worked for me

No. Just eating 'healthily' won't work because there are not enough nutrients in whole food (and they are absorbed too slowly) to fix the problem. Juice is like a mainline of nutrients over and above regular meals. Juicing is not a substitute for poor meals. You still need to consider the amount of fibre, omega 3, calcium, etc that you are getting from whole food.

Why are there "not enough nutrients" in whole food? How can juice possibly have more nutrients than the vegetables it's made from?

I eat probably around 15-20 portions of fruit and veg a day, do you think I'd still benefit from juicing?